Home defense: the only one you can count on is you

Guns Magazine, July, 2005 by Clint Smith

A residence is a family's home.

A family is a group of people of varying ages and relationships that lives together.

On rare occasions a family may have to defend themselves and their home.

This will often not be pleasant.

People may get injured or even killed defending themselves and their home.

Preparing to defend your family and home is not paranoia any more than carrying a spare tire for your car is paranoia. It is simply a good idea.

The Home

Up front it needs to be stated that homes are replaceable--families are not. Choose your fights wisely and do them away from your family if possible. One of the best ways to defend your home and family is to develop and nurture beforehand a layered defense--a system if you will. This system could include, but not be limited to, family awareness, family tactics, stout doors and deadbolt locks, exterior lighting to illuminate the perimeter of the home, alarms both silent and audible, dogs, communications and firearms being only a few examples.

Outside Security

After being a law enforcement officer for several years it is simple to note that most unauthorized attempts at entry occur in the dark recesses and areas around homes and businesses. Illumination of these dark areas with permanent lighting and motion detector equipped lighting will help prevent unwanted people from approaching or entering your home without being subjected to lighting. The lighting simply makes them uncomfortable and hence may deter their illegal actions.

Door and Locks

Quality doors of metal construction are preferred although they are often not of the type to be pleasant to look at. Many burglaries of the foot-on-the-door type simply have the door and the doorframe leave the framing of the house and drop onto the living room floor. Yes, the whole door and frame! Reinforcement of these weak areas of home construction can be accomplished by drilling 10" to 12" lag bolts though the door jam into supporting studs surrounding the door. It does not take a rocket scientist to grasp the value of a steel door over a wood or hollow-core door. Do not overlook the reinforcement of doors on the interior of your home as they may serve as your last barrier of defense against an intruder who is already inside the home. Deadbolts, crossbars and angled door stops anchored to the floor are helpful but can impede your mobility throughout the home and can project a sense of living inside Fort Apache, which bothers some folks of a gentler side--that is unless there is somebody inside the house the gentle folks don't want inside with them. Consider the doors as only a line of defense that simply may slow down, but may not permanently keep the threat out. The doors, if they are stout, may buy some space and time to bring weapons systems and 911 responders to bear.

Dogs and Alarms

The family Fido may be more of an alarm than we generally consider it to be. As I sit writing this, Boo, our dog just went on a bender and shortly thereafter there was a knock at the door. A dog simply hears better than humans do, and mine definitely hears better than I do. Since the beginning of the relationship of humans and dogs, our canine friends have yipped the warning signals that should set us into a different mindset. I don't know about yours but mine has different tones. One is the goofing-around bark at the birds and squirrel mode the other is "Hey there is something out there" bark mode. Do as you may but I am inclined to listen to what the four-legged Parsons Jack Russell terrier with the perky ears named Boo I live with tells me. Our canine friends have guarded many a sleepy campsite over the millennium. There is a reason that is so.

Firearms for Home Defense Handguns

Handguns are simply not the best choice of weapons to fight with. They are in fact convenient for concealed carry purposes in the public domain. They can win a fight if used effectively, but should not be considered the optimum choice, period. In the home they add a degree of portability, but with this added mobility also comes a degree of lacking. The process is a no-brainer: The less effective the tool is, the more likely it will have to be shot multiple times to resolve the issue at hand. The more you shoot, the more likely something will go wrong--sort of like fighting bees--one bee, maybe one sting, tour bees ... You get the point.

Shotguns

Shotguns are often cumbersome if they are in Granddad's goose-gun mode. Shorter barreled versions are somewhat more mobile inside the compressed areas of hallways and doorways but that issue is one that needs to be addressed in training prior to actual or possible application. They come in different versions operating as a pump action, semiautomatic, side-by-side or single barrel system. Pick one, as they are all pretty much the same give or take a loading drill. Of course some want to have a tube of buckshot stuffed under the barrel and this could require loading, lack of loading or down time, but the volume of shells available will not compensate for a lack of marksmanship. And the gun will be heavy. And the gun will still need to be aimed, as the patterns inside your home will be smaller than one might expect. Just pattern it at the range and that glaring issue will rear its ugly head. Two points will be certain, the gun will be empty quicker than you expect and, if you hit the threat with a load of anything from a shotgun of any gauge, they'll know they are not playing laser tag. One thing for sure about a shotgun, it will physically remove meal and bone at short ranges.